‘Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After?’ Spoilers, Premiere: Fans Claim ‘Bachelor’ Spin-Off Is ‘Scripted’ And ‘Fake’ [WATCH PROMO]
Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell are returning to reality TV this Tuesday, October 11, with their series on Freeform, Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After? The unscripted series will follow The Bachelor couple as they navigate through the challenges of wedding planning and adjust to their new life in Denver. While Higgins and Bushnell promised fans that they would not censor themselves, after seeing the promo, some fans are calling the new series “fake” and “scripted.”
When the promo for Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After was released Monday on Facebook, several The Bachelor fans claimed that the spin-off was obviously scripted. A few commented that they were actually interested to see the show, but after seeing how fake everything looked, they wanted nothing to do with it.
“Wow they’re bad actors. SO scripted. I was actually considering watching… not anymore. Looks so dumb,” a Facebook user commented.
“Omg wow real problems… I was excited to watch this but its so scripted and now am not. If this scene was the most dramatic its gonna get good luck to staying on air,” another fan wrote.
The clip was taken before Higgins and Bushnell went live on After the Final Rose special. While the two looked happy to be on the show back then, the promo revealed that Lauren actually felt like she was forced to go.
“I didn’t have a choice. I feel like you just said ‘Yes’ for both of us, but it’s fine,” she told Ben.
“I only agreed to this thing because it was something that Ben wanted to do but now I’m starting to wish that I have never let Ben talk me into this,” Lauren later explained to the cameras.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lauren Bushnell admitted that she was hesitant to go on another reality show right after The Bachelor. The 25-year-old flight attendant explained that she was ready to return to her normal routine when the opportunity for the spin-off came up.
“I think we both definitely took some convincing but maybe me more so than Ben. I think I was just worried. I just was ready to go back. I’m a little bit more shy, I think. Ben’s definitely more confident about being in front of the camera so I was just a little wary.”
After the producers explained that Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After is going to be a lot different than The Bachelor, Bushnell eventually said yes. She was happy that the filming took place in Denver and they got to show their real selves to their fans. Higgins also hoped that the Bachelor Nation will get to see a different side of them in Happily Ever After.
“We really just want to be as vulnerable and open with this new series so people could really get to know us a little bit. I hope that people also see that Lauren and I hopefully have depth and were hopefully not as boring as many people think. This is a pretty fun series and I’ve seen the first episode, and I laughed,” he said.
While they still do not have a wedding date just yet, Higgins teased that part of the wedding preparation will be shown on Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After? The former Bachelor revealed that they encountered problems planning the big day but still wanted to show it to their fans, adding that they everything to be as raw as possible. Both Higgins and Bushnell shared that they are open to having a televised wedding, saying that they wanted to share that special moment with their fans.
Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After premieres Tuesday, October 11 on Freeform. Watch the promo below.
[Featured Image via Freeform]
